Woman Loses License for Limousine Service

ROLLING HILLS ESTATES — The City Council has revoked the home-business license of a Seaview Villas resident after concluding that she has been illegally operating a limousine business out of her condominium.

Beloit (Billie) Blanchard told the council that her business consists of making telephone bookings for limousine operators and that she keeps one chauffeured limousine as her personal car.

However, several neighbors, one armed with pictures showing up to three limousines parked in front of Blanchard's garage, said drivers and passengers--including teen-agers formally dressed for proms--gather at Blanchard's home and use the cars. One neighbor said that on one Saturday there were 27 people, along with half a dozen parked cars.

Blanchard called the revocation selective enforcement stemming from harassment by neighbors. "They don't like me," she said.

The Municipal Code requires that home businesses not infringe on neighbors or create additional traffic.

Linda Emberson, code administrator, said Blanchard initially operated a limousine service with three cars from her home without a required license and was notified twice last December. In January, the city issued her a $25 home-business license for a telephone reservation service after she agreed to park no cars other than her personal vehicle at her home. But in March, Emberson said, the city began receiving numerous complaints from neighbors that the limousines were back on the property.